I have to say, this show is awesome. I’m only two episodes into the limited series and there’s so much enjoy already: Stiller’s smooth yet spartan directing style… gritty, rich, yet never indulgent cinematography by Jessica Lee Gagne… Dano and Del Toro straight up at the top of their game (Dano is somehow sensitive, bottled up, and furious all at the same time while Del Toro plays his villainous machinations a little more toned down than usual, like in Sicario, but also adds a sort wild desperation that I’m not I’ve ever seen before in this particular tone). It’s a cool show, short and simple.
But what I’ve also realized is that it’s a show I’ve completely (and actively) protected myself from reviews, discussion, and any sort of expectations. All I knew going in was that no one I knew had seen it, it had actors I loved, and a director (Ben Still) I am always intrigued by but not have never hyped up. If you are reading this right now and have not seen the show, I apologize for inherently ruining this situation for you. It’s a plight I share in, with almost every other show I want to watch. The reviews come in, I can’t help but read or hear about them via social media/in-person regurgitation, and then I either feel like I know the show well enough to no longer be excited about it — or I’ve puffed it up in mind to the point where once I’m done with the pilot I feel like I can move on.
It’s an art, in this day and age, to restrict the information you receive. And what’s more, to allot private time for thought. Just thought, that allows you to remember what you enjoy and what you’re passionate about or excited for without anyone else’s expectations, supposed expertise, or passion of their own to get in the way. It pays to be occasionally meditative about what you have enjoyed, or been enriched by, and what you want to be enriched by next. Escape at Dannemora has taught me to escape from expectations, from a thoroughly researched life in advance. Go find your own, Escape, is what I say.